THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602180173
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: TOM ROBINSON
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
Virginia Tech's Ace Custis visited his buddy, University of Massachusetts basketball star Marcus Camby in his hotel room Friday night. Obviously, Ace forgot the rope and duct tape.
Bad move.
Free to accompany the top-ranked Minutemen to Cassell Coliseum on Saturday afternoon, Camby - who met Custis at the World University team tryouts last summer - destroyed the Hokies with 31 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots.
And so the great ambush of 1996 fizzled. Really never took shape at all, though the 74-58 final was a little misleading.
Tech kept it close until the last four minutes. But the plan was to hand UMass its first loss in 25 games, before an ESPN audience and a sellout crowd of 10,052, no less.
Instead, the Hokies' heads came back to them on a tray, delivered with authority by Camby.
``It was an average game for me,'' Camby said. ``I can play a whole lot better.''
Doubtless, he can. As can the Minutemen. But they were plenty good enough Saturday to ensure themselves the top spot in The Associated Press poll for a ninth consecutive week, the longest run at No. 1 since Duke went wire to wire in 1991-92.
At the worst, this is a pretty sure sign that frenetic wonder boy John Calipari runs a premier program. That's not good enough for Camby. Stop me if you've heard this before, but it seems Camby feels UMass still gets no respect. From whom, he doesn't say.
Pleeease, Mr. Camby. Sir.
Arkansas ridiculously whined about no respect all the way to the NCAA title two seasons ago. Camby is all over that same bandwagon.
Sure, UMass has been taken into overtime in three games. It also has beaten Kentucky, Memphis, Wake Forest and now Virginia Tech, all top 10 teams. It beat Syracuse, Maryland and Georgia Tech when they were in the top 20. It stomped its hated Atlantic 10 foe Temple twice.
But somehow, insisted Camby, ``All you hear about are Kentucky and Kansas. We'll have to win it all to win respect.''
That's a crock. But if we're going to have to suffer Camby and UMass nursing this imagined boo-boo another month and a half, at least we've been warned.
As for the kid himself, lack of appreciation is hardly a problem. The Hokies couldn't say enough glowing things about the junior center, the clear front-runner for national player of the year.
Tech coach Bill Foster called Camby a point guard in a 6-foot-11 guy's clothing, so great are his agility and ball-handling skills. In a variation on that theme, Calipari described Camby as a 7-foot shooting guard, with a greatness that makes an entire team better.
Whatever, Tech was out of its element trying to deal with Camby and forward Donta Bright, who scored 19. Particularly swamped were Travis Jackson and reserve Keefe Matthews. The 6-8 post men drew Camby in the man-to-man scheme and hoped for help from Custis, who played all 40 minutes.
When that happened, Camby either beat the double-team anyway or dished to Bright for easy buckets. On the other end, Camby's presence was largely responsible for Tech's impotence in the paint, though sturdy forward Dana Dingle was a force, too.
``I was ready to play, but I didn't provide the numbers I usually do,'' said Custis, who shot 3 for 13 for seven points, seven below his average. ``We weren't intimidated. But you were aware of (Camby).''
As evident as Camby's gifts was the calm with which UMass handled Tech's loud, hostile environment. Most of its biggest victories have come on neutral floors, but UMass was entirely unruffled and never allowed a Tech run.
Calipari had the Minutemen up for a 7:30 a.m. shootaround. They returned at noon ready for their usual performance - Calipari two-stepping the sideline, constantly crying to the referees; defense that rarely breaks down; Camby simply in control, nullifying the crowd.
``This was a college environment at its best,'' Calipari said. ``The last two or three years now, we're the biggest game on everybody's schedule. They camp out for tickets. We've got four more games and they're going to be exactly like this. We're used to this.''
This show of respect, in other words. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ALAN KIM/Landmark News Service
No one had to ask who won Saturday afternoon in Blacksburg. The look
on the face of Virginia Tech's Travis Jackson said it all as the
clock ran out on the moment the Hokies had been waiting for this
season.
by CNB